Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing system, and non-transitory storage medium storing program

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus includes an acquisition unit configured to acquire first route information of a first departure place to a first destination, along which a first user moves, a selection unit configured to select at least one of a second departure place within a first predetermined range from the first departure place and a second destination within a second predetermined range from the first destination, and a sharing unit configured to enable sharing of second route information of at least one of the second departure place to the first destination and the first departure place to the second destination with a second user different from the first user.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/120,187, filed Aug. 31, 2018, which claims the disclosure of JapanesePatent Application No. 2017-198365 filed on Oct. 12, 2017, all of which,including the specification, drawings and abstract are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus,an information processing method, an information processing system, anda non-transitory storage medium storing a program.

2. Description of Related Art

In a communication terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a “terminal”),such as a smartphone, a technique that searches for a route from adeparture place to a destination and notifies another user of thesearched route is known.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-108932 (JP2012-108932 A) discloses a technique that, in a navigation system,suppresses transmission of positional information near a place where anindividual can be specified, such as a home position of a vehicledriver, in order to restrain leakage of information capable ofspecifying an individual in origin and destination (OD) investigation.

SUMMARY

In the related art, in a route other than a place capable of specifyingan individual, such as a home position, the entire route from thedeparture place to the destination may be shared with another user, butthe user may not desire to share the route.

The disclosure provides a technique capable of enabling sharing of routeinformation of a departure place to a destination with another userwithout allowing another user to know a combination of the departureplace and the destination.

A first aspect of the disclosure relates to an information processingapparatus. The information processing apparatus includes an acquisitionunit, a selection unit, and a sharing unit. The acquisition unit isconfigured to acquire first route information of a first departure placeto a first destination, along which a first user moves. The selectionunit is configured to select at least one of a second departure placewithin a first predetermined range from the first departure place and asecond destination within a second predetermined range from the firstdestination. The sharing unit is configured to enable sharing of secondroute information of at least one of the second departure place to thefirst destination and the first departure place to the seconddestination with a second user different from the first user.

For this reason, in a case where the departure place or the destinationis a position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, it is possible to enable sharing of a route having a positionother than the position where an individual can be specified, such as ahome position, as a departure place or a destination.

Accordingly, even in a case where the departure place or the destinationis the position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, it is possible to enable sharing of the route information ofthe departure place to the destination with another user. Furthermore,it is possible to enable sharing of the route information of thedeparture place to the destination with another user without allowinganother user to know a combination of the departure place and thedestination.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the selection unit may be configured to execute at leastone of selecting a facility within the first predetermined range fromthe first departure place as the second departure place and selecting afacility within the second predetermined range from the firstdestination as the second destination.

For this reason, it is possible to enable sharing of a route having afacility around an original position as a departure place or adestination.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of the route informationof the departure place to the destination with another user withoutallowing another user to know a combination of the departure place andthe destination.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the selection unit may be configured to execute at leastone of selecting a facility along a principal road among at least onefacility within the first predetermined range from the first departureplace as the second departure place with priority and selecting afacility along a principal road among at least one facility within thesecond predetermined range from the first destination as the seconddestination with priority.

For this reason, in a case where the departure place or the destinationis a position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, it is possible to enable sharing of a route having a facilityalong a principal road among facilities within a predetermined rangefrom a position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, as a departure place or a destination with priority.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of a route having aposition easier to understand as a departure place or a destination withanother user while protecting information capable of specifying anindividual, such as a home position.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the sharing unit may be configured to include, in thesecond route information, at least one of (i) a departure time of thesecond departure place calculated according to an arrival time of thefirst destination included in the first route information and (ii) anarrival time of the second destination calculated according to adeparture time of the first departure place included in the first routeinformation.

For this reason, it is possible to set a departure time or an arrivaltime according to a changed departure place or destination.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of route information of adeparture place to a destination having appropriate departure time andarrival time with another user.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the sharing unit may be configured to, in a case wheresharing of the first route information is permitted by the first user,set the first route information to be usable to the second user. Thesharing unit may be configured to, in a case where sharing of the firstroute information is not permitted by the first user, enable sharing ofthe second route information with the second user.

For this reason, in a case where the departure place or the destinationis a position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, it is possible to allow a user to select whether or not tochange and enable sharing of a departure place or a destination.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of the route informationof the departure place to the destination with another user withoutallowing another user to know a combination of the departure place andthe destination.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the sharing unit may be configured to enable sharing ofthe second route information with the second user selected by the firstuser.

For this reason, it is possible to allow a user as a sharing source toselect a user as a sharing destination who shares a route.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing a route from a departureplace to a destination with another user, such as a friend.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the sharing unit may be configured to make the secondroute information be shared between the first user and the second userusing a social networking service.

For this reason, it is possible to enable sharing of a route through asocial networking service.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of a route from adeparture place to a destination with another user, such as a friend ona social networking service.

In the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect ofthe disclosure, the sharing unit may be configured to change at leastone of the second departure place and the second destination included inthe second route information to a position according to the second userand enable sharing of the position with the second user.

For this reason, it is possible to change a departure place or adestination to a position according to another user, and to enablesharing of route information of a departure place to a destination.

Accordingly, it is possible to allow another user to use routeinformation of a departure place to a destination having home or thelike of another user as a departure place or a destination.

A second aspect of the disclosure relates to an information processingmethod. The information processing method includes, by an informationprocessing system, acquiring first route information of a firstdeparture place to a first destination, along which a first user moves,selecting at least one of a second departure place within a firstpredetermined range from the first departure place and a seconddestination within a second predetermined range from the firstdestination, and enabling sharing of second route information of atleast one of the second departure place to the first destination and thefirst departure place to the second destination with a second userdifferent from the first user.

For this reason, in a case where the departure place or the destinationis a position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, it is possible to enable sharing of a route having a positionother than the position where an individual can be specified, such as ahome position, as a departure place or a destination.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of the route informationof the departure place to the destination with another user withoutallowing another user to know a combination of the departure place andthe destination.

A third aspect of the disclosure relates to an information processingsystem. The information processing system includes a first terminal, aninformation processing apparatus, and a second terminal. The firstterminal is configured to transmit first route information of a firstdeparture place to a first destination, along which a first user moves,to an information processing apparatus. The information processingapparatus includes an acquisition unit, a selection unit, and a sharingunit. The acquisition unit is configured to acquire first routeinformation of the first departure place to the first destination, alongwhich the first user moves. The selection unit is configured to selectat least one of a second departure place within a first predeterminedrange from the first departure place and a second destination within asecond predetermined range from the first destination. The sharing unitis configured to enable sharing of second route information of at leastone of the second departure place to the first destination and the firstdeparture place to the second destination with a second user differentfrom the first user. The second terminal is configured to acquire thesecond route information.

For this reason, in a case where the departure place or the destinationis a position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, it is possible to enable sharing of a route having a positionother than the position where an individual can be specified, such as ahome position, as a departure place or a destination.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of the route informationof the departure place to the destination with another user withoutallowing another user to know a combination of the departure place andthe destination.

A fourth aspect of the disclosure relates to a non-transitory storagemedium storing a program. The program causes an information processingsystem to execute acquiring first route information of a first departureplace to a first destination, along which a first user moves, selectingat least one of a second departure place within a first predeterminedrange from the first departure place and a second destination within asecond predetermined range from the first destination, and enablingsharing of second route information of at least one of the seconddeparture place to the first destination and the first departure placeto the second destination with a second user different from the firstuser.

For this reason, in a case where the departure place or the destinationis a position where an individual can be specified, such as a homeposition, it is possible to enable sharing of a route having a positionother than the position where an individual can be specified, such as ahome position, as a departure place or a destination.

Accordingly, it is possible to enable sharing of the route informationof the departure place to the destination with another user withoutallowing another user to know a combination of the departure place andthe destination.

It is possible to enable sharing of the route information of thedeparture place to the destination with another user without allowinganother user to know a combination of the departure place and thedestination.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denotelike elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communicationsystem according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a serveraccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block diagram ofa terminal and a server according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of processing of thecommunication system according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of aterminal as a sharing source;

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of aterminal as a sharing source;

FIG. 5C is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of aterminal as a sharing source;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of aterminal as a sharing destination;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing for selecting asecond departure place;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of facility data; and

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of processing using routeinformation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the disclosure will be described referringto the drawings.

System Configuration

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a communicationsystem 1 according to an embodiment. In FIG. 1, the communication system1 has terminals 10-1, 10-2 (hereinafter, in a case where there is noneed for distinction from each other, simply referred to as “terminals10”), a server 20, an SNS server 30, and a content providing server 40.The number of terminals 10 is not limited to two.

The terminals 10 and the server 20, and the terminals 10 and the SNSserver 30 are connected in a communicable state, for example, through anetwork 50, such as the Internet, a mobile phone network, a wirelesslocal area network (LAN), or a LAN.

The server 20 and the content providing server 40 are connected in acommunicable state through the network 50.

Each terminal 10 is, for example, an information processing apparatus(computer), such as a smartphone, a tablet personal computer (PC), anotebook PC, or a navigation device.

The terminal 10 acquires data of a map or a route from the server 20using an application for route guidance (navigation), and performsnavigation of moving using a vehicle, walking, a train, or the like. Theterminal 10 transmits (uploads) information (route information)regarding a route, along which the user moves, a route, along which theuser is moving, or a route, along which the user is scheduled to move,to the server 20 according to a user's operation. The route informationincludes, for example, information regarding a moving route from adeparture place to a destination, or the like. The route information mayinclude a via-point, a departure time, an arrival time, and a pin, acomment, an image, or the like associated with a position on the route.The terminal 10 performs chat, image sharing, and the like with a groupof friends or the like using a social networking service (SNS) providedby the SNS server 30.

The server 20 is, for example, an information processing apparatus for aserver, and provides a service, such as navigation, to the terminal 10.The server 20 shares the route information uploaded from the terminal 10with users of other terminals 10 through the SNS server 30. The server20 may share the route information uploaded from the terminal 10 withusers of other terminals 10 not through the SNS server 30.

The SNS server 30 is, for example, an information processing apparatusfor a server, and provides a social networking service, such as groupchat, to the terminal 10. The SNS server 30 transmits the routeinformation uploaded from the terminal 10 through the server 20 to otherterminals 10 using the social networking service. The SNS server 30 maytransmit the route information to other terminals 10 using social mediaincluding Wiki, SNS, a blog, an image sharing site, and the like.

The content providing server 40 is, for example, an informationprocessing apparatus for a server, and provides data, such as businesshours of facilities, to the server 20.

Hardware Configuration

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration example of theserver 20 according to the embodiment. The server 20 of FIG. 2 has adrive device 100, an auxiliary storage device 102, a memory device 103,a central processing unit (CPU) 104, an interface device 105, and thelike connected to one another through a bus B.

An information processing program that realizes processing in the server20 is provided, for example, by a recording medium 101. In a case wherethe recording medium 101 having the information processing programrecorded thereon is set in the drive device 100, the informationprocessing program is installed from the recording medium 101 to theauxiliary storage device 102 through the drive device 100. However, theinstallation of the information processing program is not indispensablyperformed from the recording medium 101, and may be downloaded fromanother computer through the network. The auxiliary storage device 102stores the installed information processing program, and stores neededfiles, data, and the like.

The memory device 103 is, for example, a random access memory (RAM), andin a case where there is a start instruction of the program, reads andstores the program from the auxiliary storage device 102. The CPU 104realizes functions related to the server 20 according to the programstored in the memory device 103. The interface device 105 is used as aninterface for connection to the network.

As an example of the recording medium 101, a portable recording medium,such as a compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatiledisc (DVD) disk, or a universal serial bus (USB) memory, is exemplified.As an example of the auxiliary storage device 102, a hard disk drive(HDD), a flash memory, or the like is exemplified. Both of the recordingmedium 101 and the auxiliary storage device 102 correspond to acomputer-readable recording medium.

The hardware configurations of the terminal 10, the SNS server 30, andthe content providing server 40 may be the same as that of the server20.

Functional Configuration

The functional configurations of the terminal 10 and the server 20according to the embodiment will be described referring to FIG. 3. FIG.3 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block diagram of theterminal 10 and the server 20 according to the embodiment.

Server 20

The server 20 has a storage unit 21. The storage unit 21 is realizedusing, for example, an auxiliary storage device or the like. The storageunit 21 stores facility data 211 and the like. Data stored in thefacility data 211 will be described below.

The server 20 has an acquisition unit 22, a route guidance controller23, a selection unit 24, a sharing unit 25, and a communication unit 26.The acquisition unit 22, the route guidance controller 23, the selectionunit 24, the sharing unit 25, and the communication unit 26 representfunctions that are realized by processing executed on the CPU 104 of theserver 20 by one or more programs installed on the server 20.

The acquisition unit 22 acquires a departure place, a via-point, adestination, and the like designated by the user from the terminal 10.The acquisition unit 22 acquires route information from a departureplace to a destination, along which the user moves, from the terminal 10or the route guidance controller 23.

The route guidance controller 23 searches for a moving route from thedeparture place to the destination and makes the terminal 10 performroute guidance using the moving route. With this, a service ofnavigation is provided to the user through the terminal 10.

The selection unit 24 selects a principal facility within apredetermined range from the departure place or the destination acquiredby the acquisition unit 22. With this, when the route information isshared, in a case where user's home or the like is the departure placeor the destination, and a position selected by the selection unit 24other than home or the like is set as the departure place or thedestination.

The sharing unit 25 allows route information of one user acquired by theacquisition unit 22 to be shared with other users. The sharing unit 25makes the route information be shared with other users using the socialnetworking service provided by the SNS server 30, for example.

The communication unit 26 performs communication with the terminal 10,the SNS server 30, and the content providing server 40. Thecommunication unit 26 receives a route search request, a route sharingrequest, and the like from the terminal 10. The communication unit 26transmits the route information to the SNS server 30 according to aninstruction from the sharing unit 25.

Terminal 10

The terminal 10 has a reception unit 11, a route guidance unit 12, aroute information sharing unit 13, an SNS use unit 14, and acommunication unit 15. The above-described units represent functionsthat are realized by processing executed on the CPU 104 of the terminal10 by one or more programs installed on the terminal 10.

The reception unit 11 receives an input operation from the user. Thereception unit 11 receives an input of a departure place, a via-point, adestination, and the like, for example, in searching for routeinformation.

The route guidance unit 12 performs route guidance using the routeinformation received from the server 20. For example, the route guidanceunit 12 may perform route guidance for a vehicle or may perform routeguidance for walking.

The route information sharing unit 13 shares the route information usedby the user of the terminal 10 with other terminals 10 using the server20. For example, the route information sharing unit 13 acquires theroute information from the server 20 or the SNS server 30. For example,the route information sharing unit 13 uploads the route information tothe server 20.

The SNS use unit 14 performs chat, image sharing, and the like with agroup including the users of other terminals 10 using the SNS server 30.In a case where an image of the route information shared through the SNSis selected by the user, the SNS use unit 14 can edit the selected routeinformation by the route information sharing unit 13.

The communication unit 15 performs communication with the server 20 andthe SNS server 30. For example, the communication unit 15 transmits aroute search request, a route sharing request, and the like to theserver 20.

Processing

Processing of the communication system 1 according to the embodimentwill be described referring to FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG. 4 is a sequencediagram showing an example of the processing of the communication system1 according to the embodiment. FIGS. 5A to 5C are diagrams illustratingan example of a display screen of the terminal 10-1 as a sharing source.FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of theterminal 10-2 as a sharing destination.

Hereinafter, although an example where a route having home or the likeas a departure place is shared with the departure place changed will bedescribed, a route having home or the like as a destination can beshared with the destination changed in the same manner as describedbelow. In this case, in the following description, in Step S8, theselection unit 24 of the server 20 may select a second destinationwithin a predetermined range from the destination included in the routeinformation acquired by the acquisition unit 22, and in Step S9, theroute guidance controller 23 may research for a route from the departureplace to the second destination.

In Step S1, the reception unit 11 of the terminal 10-1 of the user(“first user”) as a sharing source of the route information receivessetting of a departure place (“first departure place”) and a destination(“first destination”) from the user. Here, the reception unit 11 of theterminal 10-1 may receive setting of one or more via-points.

Subsequently, the route guidance unit 12 of the terminal 10-1 transmitsa route search request including setting data, such as the departureplace, to the server 20 (Step S2).

Subsequently, the route guidance controller 23 of the server 20 searchesfor a route (moving route or route) from the departure place to thedestination (Step S3), and transmits the searched route to the terminal10-1 (Step S4).

Subsequently, the route guidance unit 12 of the terminal 10-1 displaysthe route received from the server 20 (Step S5). Subsequently, the routeinformation sharing unit 13 of the terminal 10-1 receives an operationto designate route information (“first route information”) to be shared,a range of users sharing the route information, and the permission orprohibition of the departure place from the user (Step S6).

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a display example of route information tobe shared. FIG. 5A shows an example of route information after the userof the terminal 10-1 actually moves from a departure place to adestination during a trip or the like. In the example of FIG. 5A, aroute 504 from a departure place 501 to a destination 503 by way of avia-point 502, a time 511 for departure or scheduled for departure fromthe departure place 501, a time 512 for passing through or scheduled forpassing through the via-point 502, a time 513 for arrival or scheduledfor arrival at the destination 503, a pin 521, a comment 522, an image523, and a share button 530 are displayed. The pin 521, the comment 522,and the image 523 are information indicating a position, a comment ofthe user relating to the position, and an image relating to the positioninput by the user of the terminal 10-1, or the like before, during, orafter moving from the departure place to the destination. On the screenof FIG. 5A, in a case where the share button 530 is depressed, a dialogof FIG. 5B is displayed. In the example of FIG. 5B, a message 531 “sharedeparture place?”, a button 532 “share”, and a button 533 “not share”are displayed. Here, in a case where the button 532 “share” is depressedby the user, the departure place is not changed, and the routeinformation is shared. In a case where the button 533 “not share” isdepressed by the user, after the departure place is changed from thefirst departure place to a second departure place, the route informationis shared. Hereinafter, a case where the button 533 “not share” isdepressed by the user will be described.

In a case where the button 533 “not share” is depressed by the user, adialog shown in FIG. 5C may be displayed. In the example of FIG. 5C, abutton 541 “designate departure place after change” and a button 542“automatically set departure place as principal facility” are displayed.In a case where the button 541 “designate departure place after change”is depressed by the user, the user can manually select the seconddeparture place. In a case where the button 542 “automatically setdeparture place as principal facility” is depressed by the user, thesecond departure place is automatically selected. Hereinafter, a casewhere the button 542 “automatically set departure place as principalfacility” is depressed by the user will be described.

Here, the route information sharing unit 13 of the terminal 10-1receives designation of an identification (ID) of each user included ina group sharing the route information as the range of users sharing theroute information. Furthermore, the route information sharing unit 13 ofthe terminal 10-1 may receive designation of a talk room (chat room) ofthe group sharing the route information in the SNS server 30.

Subsequently, the route information sharing unit 13 of the terminal 10-1transmits a route sharing request including data of the routeinformation, the range, and the permission or prohibition of sharing ofthe departure place to the server 20 (Step S7).

Subsequently, in a case where sharing of the departure place isrejected, the selection unit 24 of the server 20 selects the seconddeparture place within the predetermined range from the departure placeincluded in the route information acquired by the acquisition unit 22(Step S8).

Subsequently, the route guidance controller 23 of the server 20researches for a route from the second departure place selected by theselection unit 24 to the destination (Step S9). Here, the route guidancecontroller 23 of the server 20 changes the departure time withoutchanging the arrival time at the destination included in the routeinformation. With this, for example, in a case where the routeinformation is shared with friends or the like before arrival at thedestination, the original predicted arrival time can be shared, makingit easy to join the friends or the like at the destination. In a casewhere the route information is shared after arrival at the destination,it is possible to suppress time inconsistency even though a passing timeat a via-point, an imaging time of an image, or the like is not changed.

In a case where the destination is home or the like, and the destinationis changed, the route guidance controller 23 of the server 20 changesthe arrival time without changing the departure time from the departureplace included in the route information.

Subsequently, the sharing unit 25 of the server 20 transmits routeinformation (“second route information”) including the researched routeand a range of users sharing the route information to the SNS server 30(Step S10). Here, the sharing unit 25 of the server 20 may convert theID of each user included in the group sharing the route received in StepS6 to the ID of each user managed on the SNS server 30 and transmit theID of each user managed on the SNS server 30 as the range of userssharing the route information. In this case, a correspondence table ofthe ID of the user managed on the server 20 and the ID of the usermanaged on the SNS server 30 may be set in the server 20 in advance.

Subsequently, the SNS server 30 transmits the received route informationof the terminal 10-2 of each user included in the group sharing theroute (Step S11).

Subsequently, the SNS use unit 14 of the terminal 10-2 of the user(“second user”) as a sharing destination displays the route informationreceived from the SNS server 30 on a talk room screen of the groupdesignated from the user of the terminal 10-1 (Step S12). In the exampleof FIG. 6, a position of a departure place 601 is changed from theposition of the departure place 501 of FIG. 5A compared to FIG. 5A. Adeparture time 602 is also changed with the change of the departureplace. Here, even in a case where a map is displayed on an enlargedscale on the terminal 10-2, the departure place 501 that is home or thelike of the user of the terminal 10-1 is changed to the second departureplace 601 that is a principal facility around the departure place 501;thus, it is possible to share a route used or being used by the user ofthe terminal 10-1 with the user of the terminal 10-2 while protectingpersonal information relating to the home position of the user of theterminal 10-1.

The route information sharing unit 13 of the terminal 10-2 performsedition, such as addition or deletion, of a pin, a comment, an image,and the like associated with a position on the route in the shared routeinformation according to an operation from the user. In this case, theroute information sharing unit 13 of the terminal 10-2 can upload theedited route information to the server 20 and can allow the routeinformation to be shared with the terminal 10-1. The route informationsharing unit 13 of the terminal 10 may directly upload the routeinformation to the SNS server 30 instead of uploading the routeinformation to the SNS server 30 through the server 20.

Selection Processing of Second Departure Place

The processing for selecting the second departure place in the selectionunit 24 of the server 20 in Step S8 will be described referring to FIGS.7 and 8. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of processing forselecting the second departure place. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing anexample of facility data 211.

Hereinafter, although an example of changing a departure place will bedescribed, a destination can be changed in the same manner as describedbelow. In this case, in the following description, a “departure place”and a “destination” may be appropriately replaced with each other.

In Step S101, the selection unit 24 refers to facility data 211 andsearches for a principal facility (Point Of Interest (POI)) around theabove-described first departure place (hereinafter, referred to as an“original departure place”). Here, a principal facility is, for example,a public facility, such as a station, a park, or a school, a commercialfacility, such as a convenience store, a supermarket, a departmentstore, or a shopping center, or the like.

In facility data 211, items of a facility ID, a facility name, aposition, a type, the presence or absence of a parking lot, a link ID ofa parking lot exit, business hours, and an initial score are recorded.The facility ID is identification information of a facility. Thefacility name is a name of a facility. The position is a position of afacility indicated by a latitude, a longitude, and the like. The type isa type of a facility. The presence or absence of the parking lot isinformation indicating whether or not a facility is provided with aparking lot available by a general user. The link ID of the parking lotexit is identification information of a road that is connected to anexit of a parking lot of a facility. The business hours are businesshours of a facility. The initial score is an initial value of a scoreset in advance. The server 20 may acquire and store at least a part ofdata included in facility data 211 from the content providing server 40.

Here, for example, the selection unit 24 may search for a facilitywithin a predetermined range (for example, radius 500 m) from thedeparture place. In a case where the departure place is a province, orthe like, and in a case where there is no facility within thepredetermined range from the departure place, the selection unit 24 mayexpand the predetermined range such that a plurality of facilities issearched.

Subsequently, the selection unit 24 selects, as a processing target, onefacility not selected as a processing target among the facilitiessearched in Step S101 (Step S102). Hereinafter, the facility selected asa processing target is referred to as a “processing target facility”.

Subsequently, in a case where the processing target facility is along aroute (hereinafter, referred to as an “original route) from the originaldeparture place to the destination, the selection unit 24 increases ascore to the processing target facility (Step S103). Here, the selectionunit 24 increases the score, for example, by adding a predeterminedvalue to the initial value of the score in facility data 211.

Subsequently, the selection unit 24 refers to the presence or absence ofthe parking lot of facility data 211, and in a case where there is anavailable parking lot in the processing target facility, increases thescore to the processing target facility (Step S104).

Subsequently, the selection unit 24 decreases the score to theprocessing target facility vehicle when a frequency of a need for rightturn is greater in a case where the vehicle moves from the processingtarget facility to the original route (Step S105). With this, forexample, since a facility along a lane on the route has the score to theprocessing target facility higher than a facility along an oncoming laneon the original route, the facility along the lane on the route can bethus easily selected as a departure place.

In the original route, a principal road, such as a road having acomparatively wide road width (width), a prefectural road, or a nationalroad, is easily selected. With this, a facility comparatively along aprincipal road can be easily selected as a departure place.

Subsequently, the selection unit 24 decreases the score to theprocessing target facility when a frequency of passing through a roadwithin a predetermined range from a crossing of a roadway is greater ina case where the vehicle moves from the processing target facility tothe original route (Step S106).

Subsequently, in a case where the current date and time is apredetermined time zone (for example, a time zone of no vehicle in aschool zone) on weekdays, the selection unit 24 decreases the score tothe processing target facility when a frequency of passing through aroad set as a school zone is greater in a case where the vehicle movesfrom the processing target facility to the original route (Step S107).With this, a user who uses a shared route can hardly select a departureplace that makes the vehicle travels in the school zone.

Subsequently, the selection unit 24 refers to facility data 211, and ina case where the processing target facility is a commercial facility andthe current date and time is outside business hours of the processingtarget facility, decreases the score to the processing target facility(Step S108). With this, for example, a departure place that is hardlymarked since lights are put out due to outside business hours or where aparking lot or the like is not available due to outside business hourscan be hardly selected.

Subsequently, in a case where the processing target facility is along aprincipal road, the selection unit 24 increases the score to theprocessing target facility (Step S109). With this, since a facilityalong a principal road is selected with priority, a facility along aminor street can be hardly selected as a departure place. In this case,for example, the storage unit 21 of the server 20 stores a road type,such as a municipal road, a prefectural road, or a national road, thenumber of lanes, a road width, and the like in advance in associationwith roads between a plurality of nodes as intersections. For example,the selection unit 24 may determine that a road whose road type is aprefectural road or a national road, a road where the number of lanes istwo or more, and a road where the road width is equal to or greater thana predetermined value is a principal road. For example, in a case wherea position of a facility is within a predetermined range from aprincipal road, the selection unit 24 may determine that the facility isalong the principal road.

Subsequently, the selection unit 24 increases the score to theprocessing target facility when a predicted needed time from theprocessing target facility to the destination is closer to a needed timeor a predicted needed time of the original route (Step S110). With this,temporal change with the change of the departure place can be madesmaller.

Subsequently, the selection unit 24 determines whether or not there is afacility not selected as a processing target among the facilitiessearched in Step S101 (Step S111).

In a case where there is an unselected facility (in Step S111, YES), theprocess progresses to Step S102.

In a case where there is no unselected facility (in Step S111, NO), theselection unit 24 selects a facility having the highest score to theprocessing target facility among the facilities searched in Step S101 asthe second departure place (Step S112), and ends the process. Theselection unit 24 may present a predetermined number of facilities in adescending order of the score of the processing target facility ascandidates to the terminal 10, and may select a facility selected fromthe user of the terminal 10 as the second departure place.

Use of Shared Route

Processing using the route information uploaded by the terminal 10-1 asa sharing source in the route information sharing unit 13 of theterminal 10-2 as a sharing destination will be described referring toFIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of processing usingroute information.

Hereinafter, although an example where a departure place is changed willbe described, a destination can be changed in the same manner asdescribed below. In this case, in the following description, a“departure place” and a “destination” may be appropriately replaced witheach other. Also, in the example described below, both of the departureplace and the destination may be changed.

In Step S201, the route information sharing unit 13 acquires the routeinformation uploaded by the terminal 10-1 as a sharing source. Here, theroute information sharing unit 13 may receive the route information fromthe SNS server 30 as in Step S12 of FIG. 4.

Furthermore, the route information sharing unit 13 may search for andacquire the route information according to conditions from the server20. In this case, the route information may be acquired as follows.First, in a case where a search operation of the shared route with thedeparture place, the destination, and the like designated is receivedfrom the user, the route information sharing unit 13 of the terminal10-2 transmits a search request to the server 20. Subsequently, forexample, the sharing unit 25 of the server 20 searches for, among aplurality of pieces of uploaded route information, route informationwhere a destination included in the route information substantiallycoincides with a destination designated from the user of the terminal10-2 and a departure place included in the route information and adeparture place input from the user are within a predetermined range,and transmits the searched route information to the terminal 10-2. Withthis, even a user other than the friends or the like of the user as asharing source can use the uploaded route information. In addition, inthis case, the sharing unit 25 of the server 20 may search for, among aplurality of pieces of uploaded route information, route informationwhere the attributes of the age and sex of the user as a sharing source,and a vehicle type, such as a light vehicle or a heavy vehicle, includedin the route information coincide with the attributes of the user of theterminal 10-2 as a sharing destination. With this, for example, it ispossible to search for route information where the vehicle passesthrough a popular via-point in attributes of a specific user or routeinformation where the vehicle does not pass through a secluded roadhaving a narrow road width in a case where the vehicle of the user is aheavy vehicle.

Subsequently, the route information sharing unit 13 displays theacquired route information (Step S202). Here, the screen shown in FIG. 6is displayed.

Subsequently, the route information sharing unit 13 determines whetheror not to change the departure place (Step S203). Here, the routeinformation sharing unit 13 may determine whether or not to change thedeparture place, for example, based on an operation from the user.

In a case where determination is made not to change the departure place(in Step S203, NO), the process progresses to Step S206. With this, theroute information including the unchanged original departure place isshared.

In a case where determination is made to change the departure place (inStep S203, YES), the route information sharing unit 13 receives anoperation to designate a departure place after change (Step S204). Here,for example, the departure place after change may be designated from acurrent place, home of the user registered in advance, a pointregistered in advance, a point pressed for a long time on a map screen,or the like. The route information sharing unit 13 may designate a pointset in advance by the user as the departure place after change.

Subsequently, the route information sharing unit 13 makes the routeguidance controller 23 of the server 20 search for a route from thedeparture place after change to the destination (Step S205).Subsequently, the route information sharing unit 13 makes the predictedarrival time or the like be calculated with the current time as thedeparture time (Step S206).

Subsequently, the route information sharing unit 13 executes routeguidance (Step S207), and ends the process. With this, the user canreceive a service of guidance of a route from home or the like to apredetermined destination or a route from a predetermined departureplace to home or the like using route information uploaded from anotheruser.

Summary

According to the above-described embodiment, after at least one of adeparture place or a destination is changed to a position of a principalfacility or the like, data of a route or the like is shared with otherusers. With this, it is possible to restrain the position of home or thelike from being shared as a departure place or a destination.

A route along which the vehicle will move from now or a route alongwhich the vehicle is moving is shared, making it easy to join thefriends or the like, for example. A route along which the vehicle hasactually moved is shared, whereby a route along which the vehicle passesthrough a recommended via-point, a route along which the vehicle passesthrough a local secluded road hardly searched in car navigation or thelike can be shared with another user.

Although the embodiment of the disclosure has been described above indetail, the disclosure is not limited to a specific embodiment describedabove, and various modifications and alterations may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure described in theclaims.

The functional units of the terminal 10 and the server 20 may berealized by, for example, cloud computing constituted of one or morecomputers. At least a part of the functions of the terminal 10 and theSNS server 30 may be provided in the server 20. At least a part of thefunctional units of the server 20 may be provided in the terminal 10.

In the embodiment of the disclosure, the server 20 is an example of aninformation processing apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing server comprising acentral processing unit (CPU), the CPU being programmed to: acquirefirst route information of a first departure place to a firstdestination; select at least one of a facility, as a second departureplace, within a first predetermined range from the first departure placeand a facility within a second predetermined range from the firstdestination, as a second destination place; and enable sharing of secondroute information of at least one of the second departure place to thefirst destination and the first departure place to the seconddestination.
 2. An information processing method comprising: acquiring,by an information processing server, first route information of a firstdeparture place to a first destination; selecting, by the informationprocessing server, at least one of a facility, as a second departureplace, within a first predetermined range from the first departure placeand a facility within a second predetermined range from the firstdestination, as a second destination place; and enabling, by theinformation processing server, sharing of second route information of atleast one of the second departure place to the first destination and thefirst departure place to the second destination.
 3. An informationprocessing terminal comprising a central processing unit (CPU), the CPUbeing programmed to: transmit to an information processing server arequest for searching a first route from a first departure place to afirst destination, the request including information of the firstdeparture place and information of the first destination; receive asecond route from the information processing server, the second routeincluding at least one of a facility, as a second departure place,within a first predetermined range from the first departure place and afacility within a second predetermined range from the first destination,as a second destination place; and display the second route, the secondroute being at least one of (i) a route from the second departure placeto the first destination and (ii) a route from the first departure placeto the second destination.